Honey Tea And Shogi
by The.Silent.Leader
Summary: Shikamaru is sick in bed. It's not Ino or Temari that visits him to help him feel better. She makes him feel better, and he might even have found a new Shogi partner.


Shikamaru laid in bed, the curtains drawn, his shogi table in the corner, pieces scattered. He had thrown up twice, had the chills, and no number of blankets or warm liquids could warm him. So he lay in bed, miserable and sick, impatiently waiting until the headache wore off, or he stopped shivering. Downstairs he could hear his mother doing dishes, and other housework. At least she wasn't harping on him about one thing or another. If all women left you alone and let you be when you were sick, he made a mental note to be sick more often. He'd get the girl of his dreams, and she'd never nag him. Genius.

A knock on the door shook him from the state in between sleep and awake. He listened closely to the sound of a hesitant voice. Then his mother's which seemed so loud compared to the first. He could only barely hear the first, and he didn't recognize it either. But his mother has said, "Oh, yes, he's in his room. You can go on up, but he's not feeling well."

A few moments later he heard the light wrapping of a fist at his door. He pulled his comforter closer and called hoarsely, "Go away!"

All was silent, then another set of wrapping. A small voice from the other side seemed to whisper, "Shikamaru-san?"

Shikamaru pulled the blankets completely over his head, groaning. He was sick, and tired and just wanted to be left alone. He hated whining, but if that's what it would take to get her to go away, he would, "Please, just go away…"

He heard the door crack, then swing open a bit, "Shikamaru-san? P-please, can I come in?"

And then it dawned on him. Hinata Hyuga. The little shy thing with the purple hair. She had a crush on Naruto, if he remembered correctly. And she was so quiet. No wonder his mother's voice overpowered hers. He uncovered his head a bit, only enough to look up at her, "What is it Hinata?" he complained.

"Sh-Shikamaru, Ino told me you weren't feeling well. I-I thought I'd bring you something that might make you feel better." She said, stepping in a little farther, lightly shutting the door behind her. She set her bag down by the door and knelt by his cot. She tilted her head, trying to get a better look at him. "Y-your mother didn't tell me what exactly was wrong. H-how do you feel?"

Shikamaru shifted up onto one elbow, shifting the blankets away slightly. The air was freezing and he regretted even letting her come in the door. He should just Shadow Mimic her right back out the door and lock it. He sighed, "Hinata, I feel like I've been bowled over by… something big." He said, giving up halfway through his metaphor. He shook his head, "I've been throwing up, much to my disgust, it's freezing in here, and I just want to sleep, but this headache won't ease up just a bit so I can."

The Nara rolled over, pulling the blankets up around his shoulders and under his chin, eyeing a shogi piece on the floor with great interest. Hinata thought for a moment and smiled lightly, "You just have a cold." She said warmly. "The blankets will help out a lot. As gross as it sounds, you have to, well… s-sweat out this cold." Hinata stood slowly, her little feet padding across the floor. Without another word she left, leaving the door open a crack. Shikamaru sighed; she didn't close the door, meaning she'd be back. So troublesome. Just when he had women figured out, they have to actually bug you more often when you're sick than normally.

A few minutes later the sound of her little feet padding down the hallway, accompanied by the sound of ceramic clinking together. Tea? He groaned. This woman was such a pain is his neck. She backed up into the room, setting the tray down on the floor next to him. He took in a silent breath. Yep, tea. Hinata poured him a cup, coaxing him out of the covers. "Shikamaru? This tea will help. W-won't you at least try it?"

Shikamaru turned sharply, glaring at her. Why wouldn't she just leave him alone? All he wanted to do was sleep. Didn't she see that? Doing as she asked was a hell of a lot easier than listening to her practically beg him. He hated to hear women beg, almost as much as he hated their nagging. He sat up, his covers falling. He shivered, biting back the cold, being a man. He had a fever, so what? He took the cup, and after the first sip realized it was one of the best decisions he had made all morning.

Hinata blushed deeply, trying to keep her attention at the bottom of her own cup, watching the tea slosh against the sides. No shirt and pants undone. The hem of his underwear showing, and it was all she could do not to get up and leave right then and there out of embarrassment. So her cup was a great distraction. Being a teenager wasn't as great as she had hoped.

When his cup was empty his chest was looser, and the breaths he took were deeper and clearer. He let out a deep sigh, happy to have a bit more room to breathe. "Thank you Hinata. I appreciated that. Honey?"

Hinata looked up, a bit confused at the last question.

Shikamaru gestured to the cup, "Honey tea?"

"Oh, oh yes. Honey helps break everything up, whether it was in your lungs, or in your sinuses." She explained quickly.

Feeling a bit better already he only picked up one of his blankets and wrapped it around himself. They sat in silence like that for a while, drinking more tea, and listening to Yoshino do more housework, singing horribly to herself. When the silence was nearly suffocating Shikamaru cleared his throat, "S-so, Hinata?"

She looked up slowly, broken from a trance, "Hmmm?"

"Why did you come out here today? I mean, you aren't a medical ninja, and, well, it's not like I'm one of your team members you are supposed to keep healthy. And, I know it's not affection. What with Naruto and all." He said, rambling a bit.

Hinata was quiet for a few minutes, composing and pulling together her words. "I was at the flower shop this morning, collecting herbs. I, um, I make homemade ointments and dabble in a bit of healing. I don't heal like medical ninjas. I'd rather heal conventionally."

She stammered a bit here and there, but the longer the two talked, the less she stammered,

"And Ino said you had been under the weather the last few days, and didn't show up to training this morning. She said you were sick and she was worried. B-but she had to work, and couldn't come out to see how you were. I told her I'd take you out some medicine and check on you… That's all."

Shikamaru nodded, looking out across the floor, his shogi set knocked all over the place from where he had flipped the table the night before. Asuma-sensei had always checked in on him when he didn't feel well. And getting sick like this, for the first time without him was… not easy. Shikamaru let the sadness envelop him, forgetting about Hinata sitting next to him, whom he'd just been talking to not ten seconds ago. He rolled over, pulling the covers close and fell asleep in minutes, leaving Hinata confused and alone in the silence.

Shikamaru rolled over, the birds outside had stopped, and the sunlight that had been pushing against the curtains had faded. Confused he propped himself up on his elbow, glancing around slowly, taking in his dark room. Off to his right was his shogi table, set up nicely, the pillows laid out perfect, and all the tiles in their right places. All but one. The first move to a game of shogi. He smiled lightly, had Hinata done this? Scanning over his room again he spotted a dark figure against the wall next to his bed, curled up, looking as if it was about to fall over.

Hinata was asleep where she had been when he had so rudely dismissed her to dive into his memories of Asuma. The tea was cold, and there were two plates, one with a sandwich and one with crumbs. He assumed lunch. How long had she stayed with him, he wondered. How long had she waited with him? Shikamaru glanced down at his alarm clock, 7. Another look at the curtains and he nodded, it was just sunset. He shuffled from his covers, wet with sweat; he wrinkled his nose at them. One of the worst parts of being sick, the recovery.

He nudged her shoulder, feeling kind of awkward. No response. He nudged her again, this time, adding her name with a little coo, "Hinata?" Her eyelids fluttered, and she slowly and groggily looked up,

"Sh-Shikamaru?" she asked, honestly confused.

Shikamaru couldn't hold back the chuckle, "Hinata, you fell asleep."

Her eyes grew wide and she panicked for a second, "W-wh-what time is it?" she stammered. Shikamaru put his hands up to calm her down,

"Hinata! Calm down, it's only 7."

She slumped back, relaxing a bit. She let out a sigh and looked up, her cheeks pink, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked, sitting back down in his fort of warmth.

"Falling asleep."

"Why? You just fell asleep. It's not a big deal."

"N-no! I was supposed to take care of you. I promised Ino-chan I would! I let her down."

Hinata said, letting her head drop. Why did she seem so sad? It wasn't a big deal. She had fallen asleep, it's not like she had given him the wrong medication or something. He shook it off, trying to be respectful,

"Hinata, it's really not a big deal. I fell asleep first. Please, don't worry you're pretty little head over it."

Hinata sighed lightly, looking up, her eyes still full of shame. "Alright." She croaked.

Shikamaru nodded, letting his shoulders sag a bit, relax. He jerked his head to the right, the shogi table, "Did you do that?"

Hinata looked up, and from his face to the shogi table, and back again and let her gaze drop, something Shikamaru would have to note as some kind of nervous twitch or something and she nodded. Again she looked ashamed. Shikamaru struggled to his feet, stumbling over to the table, dragging one of the blankets with him. He sat on the opposing side that had already moved.

The click of a tile hitting the table broke her from her thoughts. She looked up, her brow furrowed. Shikamaru smiled, "You play, right?"


End file.
